The Rebel Without Claws
The Rebel Without Claws is a 1961 Looney Tunes short written and directed by Friz Freleng. When shown on television anthology programs like The Merrie Melodies Show, the title was changed to Rebel Without Claws. Title The title is a play on the 1955 movie Rebel Without a Cause. Plot The Confederates want to get an "important message" to General Robert E. Lee, but all the carrier pigeons have been shot down. The soldiers realize that Tweety is their last hope and turn to him for their mission. The Union soldiers learn of the Confederates' attempt and counter with their "Messenger Destroyer," who turns out to be none other than Sylvester. "I tawt I taw a damn Yankee tat," says Tweety just before the chase begins. Sylvester is blown out of a cannon; Tweety momentarily tricks Sylvester into thinking Union soldiers are marching to battle (Sylvester tries to confront the canary but is blown away by Confederate soldiers); and Tweety hides behind cannons on a fighter ship (Sylvester takes the brunt of more explosions). Eventually, Sylvester disguises himself as General Lee and grabs Tweety. The bird is taken to the firing line for execution. He states that his only regret is that he has "but one wife to give foh my countwy", to which Sylvester says that he has nine lives, But the commander and his soldiers prove incompetent — they shoot Sylvester instead! "It's a good thing I have got nine lives! With this kind of an army, I'll need 'em!" Availability * (1998) VHS - Looney Tunes Presents: Tweety: Tweet and Lovely * (2001) DVD - I Love Tweety: Volume 3 (restored) Notes * Most of the scenes from this cartoon were used for the TV special, Bugs Bunny: All American Hero. Censorship * The version of this cartoon that aired on the former WB Channel cuts out the "damn" in the Confederate Officer's line "Damn Yankees!" and deletes Tweety's line "I tawt I taw a damn Yankee Tat!".Censored Looney Tunes: Q-R * Cartoon Network's version of this cartoon, much like The WB's version, also removes the two usages of the word "Damn". Unlike The WB, however, CN used a fake blackout to end the scene where the Confederate Officer gives his sidekick the letter to deliver to General Lee early to remove the officer's line "Damn Yankees!" and shortened Tweety's line "I tawt I taw a damn Yankee tat!" to "I tawt I taw a Yankee tat!" with a somewhat obvious audio cut. It should be noted that Cartoon Network outside the United States airs the short uncut. * The version of this cartoon that aired on the syndicated "Merrie Melodies: Starring Bugs Bunny & Friends" show left in both uses of the word "damn", but cut a scene in the middle of the cartoon where Sylvester pursues Tweety on a ship and gets blasted by cannons (though this cut scene was shown in a "Hip Clip" on another episode of "Merrie Melodies") Gallery Withoutclaws.jpg|Title Card (Before Remastering) Withoutclaws.png|Title Card (Remastered Japanese DVD version) 198023_10150124294573926_5943166_n.png IMG_0923.PNG|Taken from an airing of Bugs Bunny: All American Hero on the Boomerang LA channel TV Title Cards 32.png|''The Merrie Melodies Show'' References * Friedwald, Will and Jerry Beck. "The Warner Brothers Cartoons." Scarecrow Press Inc., Metuchen, N.J., 1981. ISBN 0-8108-1396-3. Category:1961 Category:Cartoons directed by Friz Freleng Category:Sylvester Cartoons Category:Shorts Category:Tweety Cartoons Category:Looney Tunes Shorts Category:Cartoons written by Friz Freleng Category:Cartoons animated by Art Leonardi Category:Cartoons with layouts by Hawley Pratt Category:Cartoons with music by Milt Franklyn Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Tom O'Loughlin Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Cartoons produced by David H. DePatie Category:Cartoons animated by Bob Matz Category:Cartoons with layouts by Corny Cole Category:Cartoons animated by Tom Ray